Bagasse to Biopolymer: PLA Production Facility Design; Acceleration of Technological Momentum for Bioplastics in Higher Education 3 views

The release of fossil derived carbon into the atmosphere from plastic degradation is one of the lasting problems facing scrupulous plastics and polymer engineers during the transition to a sustainable economy. This problem matters because demand for plastics, especially single use applications, is not going away any time soon. This is largely due to their unique material properties, which other materials cannot achieve. Both my technical and STS research paper relate to this problem by analyzing the role of bioplastics, or biomass derived plastics, as a substitute for traditional plastics. My technical report lays out an original design for a $1 billion dollar per year PLA (polylactic acid) resin chemical plant from agricultural waste (Sugarcane Bagasse) to determine if this process is economically feasible and identify cost prohibitive weaknesses in one specific synthesis pathway. My STS research focuses on the impact the university system has in the adoption of new bioplastics through the theoretical framework of Technical Momentum. The plant design is centered around the goal of producing 150,000 metric tons of PLA per year, profitably. This production goal is based on an existing PLA production facility. As of 2013, NatureWorks owned the world's largest PLA manufacturing plant, producing 150,000 metric tons per year (NatureWorks, 2021). This report includes an in-depth description and analysis of all of the equipment necessary in order to reach the production goals of the plant. The design of every piece of equipment is discussed before the final design is analyzed. The final design proposal clearly shows the movement of material streams and all unit operations in the process. It has ultimately been recommended that the current design not be implemented. Yield improvements downstream allowed this process to surpass its initial production goal to ultimately produce ~270,000 metric tons of PLA per year. Ultimately the plant failed to return a profit, even at this scale, and this was primarily due to massive operating costs, specifically in raw materials in acids and bases required to carry out the fermentation step of converting sugar into lactic acid. The STS research focused on the specific problem of a lack of development of bioplastics as an alternative to fossil based plastics despite their discovery nearly 100 years ago. My research accomplished this by analyzing course offerings to undergraduates and partnerships between universities and plastic companies beginning to invest in applications of bioplastics. The most important findings were made through an analysis of a Memo of Understanding (MOU) between Virginia Tech and Dongsun chemical, one of only 5 corporate MOUs ever agreed to by the University. The analysis of the meaning of this specific MOU was carried out by looking at the research produced by the department compared to previous departments MOUs at the university. Additionally, I proposed a revision to Thomas Hughes theory of technological momentum. My research was moderately successful at contributing to a solution for the overarching problem of fossil derived carbon release. The PLA plant design, while ultimately not profitable, identified or reiterated a current fundamental design flaw in using one of the most common strains of bacteria for anaerobic fermentation of glucose into Lactic Acid. This bacteria (Bacillus Coagulans) is not able to survive in very acidic conditions and demands a high material cost through a lot of acid and base in the process to maintain appropriate pH. My STS research paper was helpful in contributing to the problem by identifying a few key models for schools and programs supporting the transition to more sustainable bioplastics, as well as proposing a refined version of Thomas Hughes theoretical framework of technological momentum. Future technical research into PLA synthesis from sustainable feedstocks should look into using different bacterial strains that are productive even at the low pH of a concentrated Lactic Acid broth solution. Future STS research into the technical momentum for bioplastics should analyze the role that government and private funding plays in determining which technologies get developed first. I would first like to thank my 3 technical capstone teammates: Braeden DiCarlo, Hannah Hulse, and Harkiran Singh. They made the long hours spent together in study rooms and zoom calls productive and even enjoyable. We were the biggest supporters of each other in and out of the classroom and I know that they will all go on to have meaningful careers in industry. I would next like to thank our advisor Professor Eric Anderson. Despite this being his last year teaching before retirement, his attention to detail and even blunt questions in progress report meetings kept us on track to complete such a substantial project. Finally, I would like to thank my STS professor, Caitlin Wylie. Her patience and sincere feedback helped me refine my research topic and find what I actually wanted to learn and write about this year.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Bioplastics; PLA; Technological Momentum

School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering Technical Advisor: Eric Anderson STS Advisor: Caitlin Wylie Technical Team Members: Braeden DiCarlo, Hannah Hulse, Harkiran Singh

English

2026-05-08